editorNPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Alice Fordham is an NPR International Correspondent based in Beirut, Lebanon. In this role, she reports on Lebanon, Syria and many of the countries throughout the Middle East. Before joining NPR in 2014, Fordham covered the Middle East for five years, reporting for The Washington Post , the Economist , The Times and other publications. She has worked in wars and political turmoil but also amid beauty, resilience and fun. In 2011, Fordham was a Stern Fellow at the Washington Post . That same year she won the Next Century Foundation's Breakaway award, in part for an investigation into Iraqi prisons. Fordham graduated from Cambridge University with a Bachelor of Arts in Classics.NPR Digital Services RSS Generator 0.94Alice FordhamThu, 24 May 2018 16:12:13 +0000Alice Fordhamhttp://kios.org
Alice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Irish Abortion Referendum Proving Deeply Divisive http://kios.org/post/irish-abortion-referendum-proving-deeply-divisive
109058 as http://kios.orgThu, 24 May 2018 11:57:00 +0000Irish Abortion Referendum Proving Deeply Divisive Alice Fordham"We've got massive flags with Harry and Meghan on," says Mike Drummond of the Red Bus souvenir shop next to the iconic London Eye. A Union Jack with the royal couple's faces in the middle hangs high on the wall and is selling fast. There are commemorative plates in buttercup yellow and curly gilding, selling for $16, presentation stand included. And there are gold and white-fringed bookmarks, kitchen towels and bargain key rings ($4 each). "The most popular item is the mugs, the souvenir mugs. But we've got coasters, teaspoons, magnets, everything," says Drummond. Most customers now, he says, are foreign tourists "showing a lot of interest" in Saturday's much-anticipated wedding in Windsor, England, of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle. And in preparation for the traditional street parties with which the British celebrate royal occasions, Brits are buying items including Harry and Meghan bunting — strings of triangular flags — and Harry and Meghan masks. "People like them," Drummond saysBritish Businesses Hope To Cash In On Royal Weddinghttp://kios.org/post/british-businesses-hope-cash-royal-wedding
108772 as http://kios.orgThu, 17 May 2018 14:01:00 +0000British Businesses Hope To Cash In On Royal WeddingAlice FordhamIn a village clinging to the side of a volcano in southern Guatemala, Florencio Hernandez sits in a cinder block house with the corn harvest piled up, a chicken coop in the corner and pots bubbling on a stove in the courtyard. His home is the proud product of a hardworking life shaped by migration. As millions of migrants in the U.S. listen apprehensively to fierce political debate over who should be allowed to stay, this village of 550 families tells a stark story of the wide ripple effects that migration — and deportation — can have. "I was born here, in the village of San Jose Calderas," says Hernandez, 56, gruff but friendly. "It was a very fertile place, we grew a lot of vegetables." When he was growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, Guatemala's civil war raged, leaving villages like this one isolated and without services. But they got by with what they grew — mainly corn and other vegetables — in the rich, volcanic soil. In the 1990s, the war limped to a close. It ended in 1996,How A Guatemalan Village's Fortunes Rose And Fell With U.S. Migration And Deportationhttp://kios.org/post/how-guatemalan-villages-fortunes-rose-and-fell-us-migration-and-deportation
106464 as http://kios.orgWed, 04 Apr 2018 17:39:00 +0000How A Guatemalan Village's Fortunes Rose And Fell With U.S. Migration And DeportationAlice FordhamGuatemala is the site of a radical, internationally-led experiment in bringing the brutal and corrupt to justice. The project has had some breathtaking successes but is fighting to survive. Reporting for this story was supported by the International Women's Media Foundation as part of its Adelante Latin America Reporting Initiative Copyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit MARY LOUISE KELLY, HOST: Guatemala, a country notorious for corruption, is the testing ground for a radical justice experiment. A unique legal commission is helping charge some of the most powerful people in the country, but the commission has made some powerful enemies, too. And it's fighting to survive. From Guatemala City, Alice Fordham reports. (SOUNDBITE OF HANDCUFFS CLICKING) ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: In a cavernous courtroom in Guatemala City, prison guards unlock the handcuffs of a row of smartly-dressed defendants. A throng of journalists photograph the men and women who were once the country's highest officials.Why A Guatemala Justice Experiment Is Struggling To Survivehttp://kios.org/post/why-guatemala-justice-experiment-struggling-survive
105274 as http://kios.orgThu, 08 Mar 2018 21:44:00 +0000Why A Guatemala Justice Experiment Is Struggling To SurviveAlice FordhamIn the heart of Beirut, architect Mona El Hallak herds a group of students together outside a monumental mansion — a vast, elegant building whose yellow walls and graceful pillars are ravaged by thousands of bullet holes. "We are," she shouts over the cacophonous traffic, "at the intersection of Damascus Road and Independence Avenue." Once upon a time, nearly a century ago, this spot lay not at the center of today's energetic if dysfunctional city, but on the breezy outskirts of a much smaller Beirut — just the place where a wealthy family with exquisite taste might commission a fabulous home. So a building that would eventually become symbolic of all Beirut's elegance, wealth and violence was begun in 1924, says Hallak as she points to a chipped inscription over the door. "You can still see the etching in the stone." The sandstone building's architect was the famed Youssef Aftimos, born in the Chouf Mountains in the 19th century, when Lebanon was still part of the Ottoman Empire.In A Bullet-Riddled Mansion, A Beirut Architect Envisions A Museum Of Memoryhttp://kios.org/post/bullet-riddled-mansion-beirut-architect-envisions-museum-memory
91416 as http://kios.orgThu, 30 Mar 2017 11:51:00 +0000In A Bullet-Riddled Mansion, A Beirut Architect Envisions A Museum Of MemoryAlice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Envisioning A Museum Of Memory In Beiruthttp://kios.org/post/envisioning-museum-memory-beirut
91411 as http://kios.orgThu, 30 Mar 2017 09:47:00 +0000Envisioning A Museum Of Memory In BeirutAlice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit AUDIE CORNISH, HOST: Now to Syria, where earlier this week it marked six years of conflict. First, let's talk about one act in particular. The U.S. conducted an airstrike in a rebel-held part of northern Syria yesterday, leveling a building next to a mosque. Dozens of people were killed. The Pentagon says the military targeted a meeting of senior al-Qaida leaders. Syrians on the ground tell a different story. They say it was a regular meeting of a local group. And most of the people killed were civilians. NPR's Alice Fordham joins us now from Beirut. And, Alice, tell us more about what you know about what happened. ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: The strike happened yesterday evening about 7 p.m. Now, what it hit was a building that was part of a small compound of structures that also includes another building that's a mosque. Low estimates of the death toll place it above 30 people, high estimates more than 50 people. Now, what the United States says isU.S. Denies Hitting Mosque After Dozens Killed In Syriahttp://kios.org/post/us-denies-hitting-mosque-after-dozens-killed-syria
90922 as http://kios.orgFri, 17 Mar 2017 20:31:00 +0000U.S. Denies Hitting Mosque After Dozens Killed In SyriaAlice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Well, now to Iraq - no longer on the list of countries covered by the travel ban. That change came after outrage by Iraqis at the January version of the visitor and refugee freeze - outrage they expressed to U.S. officials. There's a different feeling today in Baghdad, where NPR's Alice Fordham found that Iraqis are glad to be off the list. ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: Iraq partners closely with the U.S. in its huge battle against ISIS. As Iraqi forces fight and die to take back the northern city of Mosul, there are American soldiers deeply embedded with them. So when all Iraqis were banned from entering the U.S., Iraqis felt betrayed. Officials made angry statements, and regular people held demonstrations. Parliament recommended that Americans be banned from Iraq in reciprocation. And the prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, called on the U.S. to reconsider. So the new executive order has come as a relief. Here's the head of theIraqis React With Relief To Trump's New Order On Immigrationhttp://kios.org/post/iraqis-react-relief-trumps-new-order-immigration
90473 as http://kios.orgMon, 06 Mar 2017 22:01:00 +0000Iraqis React With Relief To Trump's New Order On ImmigrationAlice FordhamIn a pink-painted village clinic converted into a field hospital a few miles from the Mosul front lines, there is no emergency care facility, so wounded Iraqi troops are just wheeled into the foyer for treatment. Over the crackle of walkie-talkies, one of two men arriving with shrapnel wounds from a car bomb calls out, "Mohammad Jassim, my brother, where is he?" He is right here, a medic reassures him. Both men are confused and in pain but expected to survive. They are federal policemen, a national force playing a key role in the fight by Iraqi forces to take Mosul back from ISIS. More federal police casualties arrive in ambulances throughout the day. The field hospital is one of several, along with front-line points for immediate treatment of the gravely wounded, set up after the months-long Mosul operation restarted on Feb. 19. ISIS is expected to lose Mosul. But its fighters are inflicting a terrible toll. The number of civilians and combatants killed and injured has far exceededNo One Was Prepared To Care For So Many Wounded In Mosulhttp://kios.org/post/no-one-was-prepared-care-so-many-wounded-mosul
90426 as http://kios.orgSun, 05 Mar 2017 11:31:00 +0000No One Was Prepared To Care For So Many Wounded In MosulAlice FordhamA quickening flow of civilians is leaving the city of Mosul, fleeing fighting between Iraqi security forces and the ISIS militants who have held the city for more than two years. A total of 28,400 people have run away since an offensive to retake the densely populated western half of the city began Feb. 19, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Since Feb. 25, about 4,000 people a day have been escaping, the body said in a statement , the highest sustained daily rate of displacement since the struggle to retake Mosul began in October — on the eastern side. Most people are being picked up by Iraq's security forces and moved to camps in towns and villages south of the city. Aid agencies are scrambling to expand the capacities of the camps in anticipation of more people arriving soon. Estimates of how many people currently live in western Mosul vary. The number is certainly in the hundreds of thousands, and the U.N. says it may be as high asCivilians Flee As Iraqi Army Battles Remaining ISIS Fighters In Mosulhttp://kios.org/post/civilians-flee-iraqi-army-battles-remaining-isis-fighters-mosul
90321 as http://kios.orgThu, 02 Mar 2017 15:36:00 +0000Civilians Flee As Iraqi Army Battles Remaining ISIS Fighters In MosulAlice FordhamThe war against ISIS is entering a tough new phase, as Iraqi fighters with growing U.S. assistance push into western Mosul, warns the senior American commander in Iraq, Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend. "ISIS is a brutal, brutal enemy," said Townsend, speaking in Erbil as Iraq's security forces were about to attack Mosul's airport with help from the U.S.-led anti-ISIS coalition. He said west Mosul will be more complex and challenging than the eastern side of the city, which was retaken from the extremists in four months. ISIS has its command center on the west side, along with stores of rockets and car bombs — and an urban geographical advantage. "The old town of Mosul has the most ancient construction, and the narrowest winding streets," said Townsend. Iraqi forces will be unable to move combat vehicles in the warren, and the coalition will find it difficult to conduct airstrikes without hitting civilians. As the deadline nears for a new plan on ISIS that President Trump asked hisA U.S. Commander Works With Iraqi Forces To Fight 'Brutal Enemy' ISIShttp://kios.org/post/us-commander-works-iraqi-forces-fight-brutal-enemy-isis
90071 as http://kios.orgFri, 24 Feb 2017 00:01:00 +0000A U.S. Commander Works With Iraqi Forces To Fight 'Brutal Enemy' ISISAlice FordhamThere are a lot of children playing outside in eastern Mosul. They run around the front yards of their houses, chasing each other through the alleyways, as their parents sit on plastic chairs keeping — at most — half an eye on them. At the al-Kufa boys' school, Mustafa Salem, 13, says this freedom is new. During the 2 1/2 years that ISIS controlled his neighborhood, he was rarely allowed to leave the house. "It wasn't good, there was no school, nothing," he said. His parents were afraid the extremists would take him and forcibly enlist him in jihadist training camps for boys, known as the "Cubs of the Caliphate." "ISIS was taking children my age," he said. And like most children, he was kept at home from ISIS schools by his parents, who were horrified by a curriculum that revolved around violence. Last month, Iraqi security forces, with support from a U.S.-led coalition, forced ISIS out of the eastern half of the city. Unlike in other Iraqi cities retaken from the extremists, most ofLife Inches Back To Normal In East Mosul, But Worries Remainhttp://kios.org/post/life-inches-back-normal-east-mosul-worries-remain
89857 as http://kios.orgSat, 18 Feb 2017 12:54:00 +0000Life Inches Back To Normal In East Mosul, But Worries RemainAlice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit http://www.npr.org/.Iraqi Forces Ready For Effort To Retake Western Mosulhttp://kios.org/post/iraqi-forces-ready-effort-retake-western-mosul
89864 as http://kios.orgSat, 18 Feb 2017 12:54:00 +0000Iraqi Forces Ready For Effort To Retake Western MosulAlice FordhamThe tribal delegation visiting Sheikh Abdelraouf al-Dhahab was still talking in the very early hours of the morning last Sunday when his nephew, Abdullah, noticed strangers approaching on foot across the rocky, inhospitable terrain of central Yemen. "Who are you?" Abdullah called out into the night. "Who are you?" The men shot him dead. Startled by the gunfire, the Dhahab family scrambled to take up its own weapons and defend its house. According to accounts by locals, this was the way the battle began with U.S. special operations forces and some of their allies, which would unfold over several hours on the ground — and end with an aerial bombardment. By dawn, one American sailor was dead and three other service members were injured. Locals say numerous civilians, including women and nine children, were among the Yemenis killed. The U.S. military has opened an investigation, and U.S. military officials tell NPR that civilians were indeed among the victims. Taken together, claims andYemen Aftermath: Trump's First Military Raid Continues To Raise Questionshttp://kios.org/post/yemen-aftermath-trumps-first-military-raid-continues-raise-questions
89227 as http://kios.orgThu, 02 Feb 2017 22:11:00 +0000Yemen Aftermath: Trump's First Military Raid Continues To Raise QuestionsAlice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit MICHEL MARTIN, HOST: Now we're going to hear perspective from some of the Syrian citizens newly banned from entering the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees live in neighboring Lebanon, where NPR's Alice Fordham has their reaction to the news. ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: I'm in a poor neighborhood of Beirut on a cold day, sitting on plastic chairs with a young man named Omar Awadh. He's one of about 1,000 Syrians who lives around here, and he reminds me why they came. OMAR AWADH: (Through interpreter) People fled Syria under terrible circumstances. There was shelling, destruction, burning, arbitrary arrests. FORDHAM: He says there were atrocities committed by the Syrian government, the rebels opposing it and by an affiliate of al-Qaida. It's hard to resettle in Lebanon, which has problems of its own, and he says America is where many people want to get to. AWADH: (Through interpreter) It's the dream of every youth who lives in anSyrian Refugees Left With Questions After Immigration Halthttp://kios.org/post/syrian-refugees-left-questions-after-immigration-halt
89066 as http://kios.orgMon, 30 Jan 2017 00:41:00 +0000Syrian Refugees Left With Questions After Immigration HaltAlice FordhamWhen I meet Nineb Lamassu at England's Cambridge University, where he's a researcher, he transports us to his Middle Eastern homeland by opening his computer and playing me a recording of a man reciting a poem. Somewhere between speech and song, the voice is old, a little gruff, rising and falling rhythmically. Even in Aramaic — I don't speak a word of Aramaic — the effect is hypnotic. This is the traditional epic poetry of the Assyrian ethnic minority. Thousands of years ago, their empire dominated the Middle East , spreading out from what is now northern Iraq. There are still an estimated 3 million to 4 million Assyrians today who trace their roots back to that time, though much has changed and they are now Christian. But war and turmoil have seen them displaced from the region and their traditions are fading. Lamassu is trying to hang on to that culture. The story of his love for the epic poems begins in the 1980s, when he was a little boy in Kirkuk, in northern Iraq. "KirkukIn England, An Effort To Preserve Ancient, Epic Assyrian Poetryhttp://kios.org/post/england-effort-preserve-ancient-epic-assyrian-poetry
88490 as http://kios.orgFri, 13 Jan 2017 15:33:00 +0000In England, An Effort To Preserve Ancient, Epic Assyrian PoetryAlice FordhamThe delight that architect Marwa al-Sabouni takes in the Old City of Homs is luminous and contagious. We're walking round the historic area at the heart of the central Syrian city, north of Damascus, which was for two years a bastion of rebel fighters, besieged by the government. And at first, all I can see is destruction. Some buildings are pancaked by airstrikes, others have shell holes ripped in the sides. Almost all are sprayed with bullet holes. But Sabouni, a small, energetic woman, sees beyond the degradation of Syria's civil war, and points out the layers of the past in these old stones. We stop at the largest mosque in the area, known as the Nouri Mosque. "It was originally a temple for the sun," she says, referring to a pagan structure that once stood here. "Then a church, then half of it was sold to the Muslims, and the church and the mosque shared one building." She points out Roman columns that were used in the construction of the mosque. "This is the amazing thing aboutIn Ancient Syrian City, Fighting Has Stopped But Rebuilding Is Scarcehttp://kios.org/post/ancient-syrian-city-fighting-has-stopped-rebuilding-scarce
88274 as http://kios.orgSun, 08 Jan 2017 15:00:00 +0000In Ancient Syrian City, Fighting Has Stopped But Rebuilding Is ScarceAlice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit DAVID GREENE, HOST: OK, let's turn now to the latest in Syria where a ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey is in place - well, at least in theory. Rebels say President Bashar al-Assad's forces are violating that cease fire, and NPR's Alice Fordham tells us where. ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: The fighting is in a string of villages along the Barada River northwest of Damascus. Forty years ago, this was a lush rural area of farms and fruit trees. But under Assad and his father before him, the farmland was confiscated and the river water diverted to Damascus. So it's no surprise it's been rebellious since uprisings began in 2011. People there say they are enduring airstrikes from Assad or his Russian allies. (SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO) UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Foreign language spoken). FORDHAM: In this video posted at the weekend, a man watches a plane fly overhead... (SOUNDBITE OF VIDEO) UNIDENTIFIED MAN: (Foreign language spoken). (SOUNDBITE OF EXPLOSION) FORDHAM:The Water Supply To Damascus Is Disrupted By Syria's Civil Warhttp://kios.org/post/water-supply-damascus-disrupted-syrias-civil-war
88065 as http://kios.orgTue, 03 Jan 2017 12:36:00 +0000The Water Supply To Damascus Is Disrupted By Syria's Civil WarAlice FordhamCopyright 2018 NPR. To see more, visit ROBERT SIEGEL, HOST: Russia and Turkey say they have brokered a ceasefire in Syria. The Syrian army announced that the truce would begin tonight. Russia says this could be a precursor to more peace talks. NPR's Alice Fordham reports that many such ceasefires have been tried before and have fallen apart. ALICE FORDHAM, BYLINE: The deal was announced by two countries heavily militarily involved in Syria - Russia, which backs the government of President Bashar al-Assad, and Turkey, which backs the rebels. Rebel leaders have been involved in talks and presumably the regime, too. What's clear is this deal comes at a time when the rebels are at perhaps their lowest ebb since the beginning of the nearly six-year civil war. Here's analyst Aron Lund. ARON LUND: Of course there have been military developments, like the fall of the rebel area in eastern Aleppo recently, you know? That's important. FORDHAM: After retaking the whole of Aleppo, Assad loyalistsRussia And Turkey Have Agreed On Cease-Fire For Syria, What's Next?http://kios.org/post/russia-and-turkey-have-agreed-ceasefire-syria-whats-next
87932 as http://kios.orgThu, 29 Dec 2016 21:19:00 +0000Russia And Turkey Have Agreed On Cease-Fire For Syria, What's Next?Alice FordhamYou can tell the coastal city of Tartus is on the side of the Syrian government because everything here is intact. Little waves lap at rocks on a wide, quiet seafront dotted with cafes; boats ferry people back and forth to a nearby island. There are parks with manicured hibiscus shrubs covered in pale pink blossoms, and busy markets. It stands in vivid contrast to places where protests against Assad morphed into an armed uprising, and in the subsequent fighting, great swaths of ancient cities were destroyed. Hundreds of thousands of people were killed. Many were civilians in opposition-held areas, targeted by the forces of President Bashar Assad and his allies, in brutal tactics which have been widely condemned by Western powers and the United Nations. But just because civilians in Tartus go about their lives in safety doesn't mean they are unaffected by the war. Syrians staunchly loyal to Assad have also paid a heavy price. Pasted up on walls are posters commemorating men who haveIn A Pro-Assad Stronghold, Security Comes At A Heavy Pricehttp://kios.org/post/pro-assad-stronghold-security-comes-heavy-price
87310 as http://kios.orgMon, 12 Dec 2016 21:22:00 +0000In A Pro-Assad Stronghold, Security Comes At A Heavy Price